1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for automatic dispensing of food for an aquarium and, more specifically, to systems for dispensing frozen food for aquariums.
2. Description of Related Art
Aquariums housing fish or other aquatic creatures are widely used as decorative displays in homes and businesses. Aquariums may be used to keep fresh water fish or other creatures or, alternatively, salt water or marine fish or other aquatic organisms. One of the problems facing owners or operators of aquariums is the proper and consistent feeding of fish with food of a high nutritional content. Aquarium owners have the option of manually feeding their fish several types of fish food, such as dry flake food, freeze-dried food, or frozen food.
In conjunction with aquariums, an automated food dispensing device may be used by the owner or operator of the aquarium. Automated food dispensing devices for aquariums offer several advantages to aquarists, in that they free the aquarists from the required duties of feeding fish or other aquatic organisms at predetermined or regular times during the day. An automated food dispenser also provides free time to the aquarist, thus allowing the aquarist to devote time to other activities such as, for example, vacation, other business duties, or other recreational activities. Additionally, automated food dispensers allow aquarists the freedom simply not to have to touch their aquarium for days or even weeks at a time.
A variety of systems for automatically dispensing food for an aquarium has been developed. Automated feeding devices for aquariums are widely used currently and are made by a variety of manufacturers. Examples of such feeding devices include the Daily Double model available from the company Penn-Plax; the Rondomatic model by Tetra; the Feed-Air model by Eheim; and the Fishmate model by Animate. Such automated feeding devices have varied configurations allowing automated feeding from, for example, seven days up to thirty days, or more.
For example, one general approach to automated dispensing of aquarium food includes a feeding unit which is placed on a platform or ledge above the surface water of an aquarium. The food dispenser unit includes a receptacle bin for holding food. Typically, dry flake food is loaded into the bin. This bin is rotatably mounted on a horizontal shaft connected to a motorized control chassis. The bin includes a small aperture or hole at the top. At predetermined times, the controller in the chassis causes the motor to rotate the shaft one full revolution. This causes the food-containing bin to rotate about its longitudinal axis. As the bin rotates, the hole in the bin begins to rotate downward. As the hole approaches the surface of the water, food within the bin falls out of the hole and into the aquarium. The shaft continues rotating until it completes one whole revolution of 360 degrees, resulting in the bin being placed in the same position in which it started, with the hole or aperture at the top.
As discussed above, aquarists have several choices of the types of food that can be given to fish. Salt-water or marine fish (and other creatures) have nutritional requirements which are better satisfied with the use of frozen foods. To a lesser extent, the same is true of fresh-water fish or other freshwater organisms. Frozen food can provide better for the health and longevity of fish and other marine life, especially as compared with non-frozen foods, such as dried flake food or freeze-dried foods.
The desire to use frozen fish food raises several issues which existing conventional food dispensers, such as those discussed above, cannot solve. Conventional automated feeding devices for aquariums suffer from a major drawback and shortcoming, in that all existing automatic feeder designs are capable of dispensing only non-frozen foods to the fish or other aquatic creatures. Existing food dispensers cannot accommodate frozen food and cannot keep the frozen food unthawed. Frozen fish food, by its nature, must remain cold or else it will create unwanted water build-up, will cause undesirable mess and odor problems, and will lose nutritional value as it begins to rot.
If an aquarist has a salt-water aquarium, then such an aquarist is only able to use existing automated food dispensers which fail to provide the nutritional benefits of frozen food. Similarly, if an aquarist wishes to provide frozen food to fish in a freshwater aquarium, such an aquarist would be unable to do so with conventional food dispensers. For example, an aquarist with a salt-water aquarium who wishes to leave the aquarium untended for a length of time (for example, during a vacation) is currently only able to provide dry flake or freeze-dried food with an existing automatic food dispenser, which may lead to nutritional deficiencies and health problems for the fish, including the possibility of death. Further to this example, such an aquarist's other option is to risk having another person, who may or may not be familiar with aquariums, tend for the feeding of the fish manually, which poses a risk of either overfeeding or underfeeding, and thus creates a risk of health problems, including possibly death, for the fish.
In sum, aquarists wishing to provide frozen food to their fish are simply unable to gain all the benefits of an automated food dispenser, discussed above.
Accordingly, an automated system and method for dispensing frozen food to an aquarium is desired.